Al Manes' 1961 Cadillac Coupe De Ville

When Al Manes gets hot for a car, its tough to make him let it go. Als best friend Bill Becker was friendly with a woman who had a nice original 61 Cad that she rented out as a movie car. Al was smitten with the car and just had to have it. The problem was that it wasnt for sale, so he waited and persisted in trying to purchase the land yacht of his desire. Time eventually turned the perpetual no into a yes and Al took delivery of his new highway schooner.

Fast forward to when Als buddy, Rick Dore, happened to be visiting Al at his place of business, Colorado Custom in Fort Collins, Colorado. On his way out, Rick noticed the Caddy parked outside and inquired as to whose car it was. Al claimed it and asked Rick if he wanted to build it. They had a nice laugh about it and Rick headed for the airport.

Three days later, Rick received a phone call from Al, who told him that the car was on its way to Dores Glendale, Arizona, shop. It turns out that Al was serious about having Rick build the car, and since Rick uses Colorado Custom wheels on all of his cars, he couldnt say no to his friend.

Once the car arrived, Rick wasted no time in getting started. He yanked the Cadillacs drivetrain and sent it out to Desert Cylinder in Phoenix for a complete rebuild. While the powerplant was being machined and refreshed, the rest of the car took a trip over to Auto Core in Phoenix for body and suspension upgrades. The kids at Auto Core cleaned up and smoothed the body and installed a complete Air Ride Technologies air-suspension system. Once the mechanical work and the modifications were completed and all the parts were returned to Dores shop, Rick wasted no time in putting the car back together.

When it was whole again, the Caddy took a trip out west to Lucky 7 Customs in Antioch, California, where Marcos Garcia, John Aiello, and Vince Byrne prepped and painted the Cad with a custom mix of candy orange using House of Kolor paints. Once the car was sufficiently oranged and flamed, it went to Martinez, California, where Bob Devine stitched the fawn color leather interior.

Als Cadillac made her big debut at the 01 SEMA Show and, as you can tell, shes a total knockout.